If you are a Catholic please tell me something ...

[Elf]

Hello, I 've been thinking about religion a lot recently and to be honest I'm not sure exactly what Church of England people believe in either but I am interested in the Catholic faith for this thread.

Could you tell me a few things that defines Catholics and whether you believe in these things.

For instance I think, but am not 100% sure, that Catholics are not allowed to use contraception, including condoms, nor get divorced. Now do you think this is a good idea?

If you do fine, but if you don't, can you still call yourself a Catholic even if you don't agree with these things? And other things as well which as I said I don't know about but I am sure there are more "sins" which must be hard to not do in 2008.

You can probably tell my opinion but I am genuinely interested in this situation. Thank you very much.

Nobody has said anything about RCs not having happy-clappy and charismatic elements! Where has this come from?

Just found this thread....Hope it's ok if I gatecrash!!???! When I get a minute I'll read through the complete thing but just wanted to say how pleased I was to find a thread on Catholocism that is realistic and honest.
I was brought up CofE but converted to Catholocism about 10 yrs ago. I know run a group called RCIA in our parish for anyone interested in finding out more about the Catholic faith. It is sooo rewarding and I learn more myself with each week!
If anyone's sending up any prayers today, please think of me and my DH. Had a missed miscarriage just over 6 weeks ago and have now had another BFP. Trying not to get excited incase it's a false alarm but really hope it's a true result!
Anyway, look forward to joining you.

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss six weeks ago but positive thoughts and heart-felt prayers sent up for you today SES15! Hoping it is a happier outcome for you this time.

I'm interested in the RCIA course. Does a similar course exist for Catholics who feel in need of a bit of a refresher course?

Bridie 3 - when I last lived in the UK, my RC parish had gone v. happy clappy! It was all off-note flute & recorder music and badly played guitar ....matched with rather banal, meaningless lyrics (but I'm a grumpy old traditionalist when it comes to liturgy and like Serin love to hear mass in Latin when I can.)

Hello there. We had a folk Mass this morning and it was meant to happy clappy but I'm afraid it was rather dirgey. Still quite enjoyable though.

Ses, ((((((((((hugs))))))))))) and prayers, hope you get the good news you are hoping for.

And SES I've just said a prayer for you.

We have just got a harp [thank the Lord she isn't playing that awful violin anymore emoticon] Its very posh

I'll pray for you ses. I had a very early miscarrige last august. Hoping for bfp soon.

Thanks all for your prayers and good wishes. Sitting in mass this morning I came to the conclusion that I trust that God knows best and therefore I have to trust that whatever happens is for the best. Easy to say and even believe but harder to put all those other thoughts out of your head too!
Countingthegreyhairs - RCIA stands for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and is therefore designed primarily for those. Having said that, I don't think any lapsed Catholics would be turned away! In our parish we also have a group called Cornerstone for those that are Catholics to give them nourishment through thought provoking talks.
On the subject of liturgy - traditional vs "happy clappy" - I think there is a place for both. It's whatever brings you closer to God at the end of the day. I'm a member of the music group in our parish. There's also a difficult balance to be got between not being an exclusive group of show off musicians and a welcoming group of people who focus on being an "instrument" ('scuse the pun!) to help the congregation in their worship.
Again our parish is fortunate to have 4 different masses at the weekend each with a slightly different feel.

Thanks for the info Ses15!

Agree about the importance of having a range of liturgical styles on offer if at all possible and I can understand yr point about striking a balance. Personally, I wouldn't object to a folk mass if it was sung and played relatively well with some thought behind it. But the last time I attended my sister's church we were expected to sing a hymn in which the words were "sunshine through the rain" and this was repeated over and over and over again. I found it utterly meaningless....

I think many of the new liturgies have lost that sense of mystery and of "higher things".

But there again, if other's got something out of it then I shouldn't be all judgy-pants about it

Apologies for digression everyone ...

Just being cheeky and bumping this thread as it's the day of my scan and would appreciate your prayers....

Hope your scan went really well!

Thanks Tinysocks. Unfortunately scan inconclusive. Looks likely ERPC was incomplete although v slight chance could be early pg. Had HCG blood test yesterday, another tomorrow and get results Monday. If levels high enough then have to wait another 2 weeks for scan. If levels not high enough, then have to have another ERPC.
This just feels like it's been dragging on too long now. Want to know what's happening!!!
Hope you're having a good day

Catholic here. No contraception and no divorce (or if one does have to get a civil divorce, one does not remarry).